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In my work I examine the mise en scene of classic detective stories carefully, paying attention to the smallest metaphorical detail, sifting through the facts and then distorting them according to my whim. My friends have been kind enough to express some interest in my observations and so to this end I am making this journal available. I hope that you might also find it of some interest.

The Literary Critical Detective.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Some rushed thoughts on narrative pacing…

I have started thinking about
the question of narrative pacing or, to phrase it another way, literary rhythm
and tempo. This rhythm is at work at the level of the sentence, the paragraph
and the text as a whole. It is vital to the success of any piece of writing.

The best texts show an
awareness of this. Just think of the way that the rhythm of Elizabeth Gaskell’s
‘condition of England’ novel Mary Barton
(1848) markedly changes in its final third. Here, we find a kind of literary
accelerando as the characters set off on a river chase. Think, too, of
something like Proust’s modernist masterpiece, À la recherche du temps perdu (1913-27), which, despite its immense
length, manages to engage with the reader every subordinate clause. For the mature Marcel,
of course, this was simply a question of style.

Classic murder mystery texts
can be a little one-paced at times. Whilst there is an inevitable speeding up of
events as we approach the great detective’s gripping dénouement, the tone is too often
too even, the beat just a little flat. From the opening line clues are
scattered in front of us. Everything is important, even the unimportant red
herrings. And, let's admit it, in this genre the writing is usually quite workmanlike. Neither Dame
Agatha Christie nor Dame Ngaio Marsh were great prose stylists. Description is
often left at the door.

It is for this reason that
certain texts stand out. Take, for instance, the last book in the Poirot sequence
(although far from being the last written), Curtain:
Poirot’s Last Case (published 1975). This has an altogether different
structure and pace. This is a murder mystery that for the most part lacks a
murder. This a text of foreshadowing and nostalgic reminiscence.

For all that I love the classic
mysteries I often wish that they were more stylish.